Am I the old man who's always by my apprentices' side?

Chapter 243 Absolutely Not
To be precise, they weren't all craftsmen.

During the last grand court assembly, Zhang Chengdao specifically proposed a "comprehensive resettlement plan," intending to address each issue one by one, starting from Chang'an.

Although limited by manpower, only Chang'an City has been dealt with so far, this policy has also brought a large number of "lazy laborers" to Chang'an City.

This is the phenomenon known as social loafing within small groups.

The most typical examples are beggars and petty thugs with no fixed assets. Even in modern times, this group is a headache for governments all over the world.

However, the University of Tokyo, adhering to the principles of humanistic care and teaching people how to fish, gradually cleaned up the mess, while the University of the West, due to its political system, never considered fundamentally solving the problem, which became one of the reasons for the serious social security issues.

As for Zhang Chengdao...

I still know how to copy homework.

So he first designated Chang'an City as a "pilot city," and then assembled a bunch of very cheap thatched huts. He then chose a place near Xinyi Lane, south of East Street in Chang'an City, which was where he demolished a bunch of dilapidated houses and messy sheds, and built hundreds of thatched huts to provide free housing for the people who originally lived there. The place was also renamed "Resettlement Lane."

In addition to the thatched huts used as resettlement housing, Zhang Chengdao also specially built a ancestral hall to be converted into a collective residence. The place where the memorial tablets were originally placed was replaced with large communal beds. It was then placed deep in the resettlement alley and combined with the two thatched huts to form a courtyard, named "Yangjiyuan" (Almshouse). It was specifically for taking in elderly people and young children with severe intellectual disabilities and those who were unable to take care of themselves. The official position of director of Yangjiyuan was also added, with a rank of nine, to be responsible for taking care of these people. The funds were allocated by the Celestial Court to maintain it.

In addition to the large dormitory and two thatched huts for the "managers", the orphanage also had a kitchen for cooking, a granary for storing grain, a well, and a stone mill. It even had two sets of tables and chairs, making it quite comprehensive.

In fact, Zhang Chengdao could have used better materials to build structures like the Stone Tile House and the Grain Kitchen, but this was a "relief center" that also served as an orphanage, not a place for people to enjoy themselves. Everything was guaranteed to meet the minimum standards, so the thatched-roof houses were already a very high standard for this group of people who had always had to huddle in thatched sheds and under the walls. It was sufficient to be used and promoted—and it could also be afforded by local governments in some remote and impoverished areas.

This move successfully brought a group of beggars and hooligans who were originally wandering around the city aimlessly to their residence, registering them and effectively keeping an eye on them.

As a result, they also cracked down on several small gang hideouts, arrested several pimps—that is, kidnappers—and rescued children and women from several families. The city's security improved significantly, and Lord Song has been walking with a swagger lately, his face glowing with health.

Often, people without stable assets lack perseverance, which makes them less attractive to employers, leading to a vicious cycle.

Like at Western University, many well-dressed middle-class people went bankrupt overnight, unable to find work because they had no place to live, and unable to rent a house because they had no job, so they ended up homeless.

Zhang Chengdao had witnessed these things firsthand before his time travel. Besides Xida, many governments in other countries solved this problem by issuing relief funds or hoping that religions would provide free food—of course, whether they could actually receive it was another matter.

Of course, this is not the only reason for this vicious cycle. There are also drug abuse, inactive insurance companies, and so on. But the main reason is still very simple: no job.

The so-called "comprehensive resettlement plan" not only provides these people with basic housing security, but also helps them find stable employment.

The Chang'an City Passenger Transport Station, which is still under construction, employs many of these workers.

The Chang'an City Passenger Transport Station had sufficient funds, which is why Zhang Chengdao specifically requested that wages be paid daily temporarily, in order to help these newly resettled people solve their immediate needs.

However, not all the resettled refugees and civilians were willing to work. Many were impoverished, and it was precisely because of their laziness that they were so poor. Even in modern times, such people are not uncommon. For example, they would sell the chicks that the government provided for free to raise for money or eat them, or they would completely ignore the work provided by the government. They would just lie in bed every day, waiting for frontline workers to clean their homes and provide them with food...

Ironically, modern society, with its humanistic concern, is powerless against such people, making grassroots work incredibly arduous.

But in ancient times...

Lord Song wouldn't tolerate this kind of person.

Indeed, there were two local ruffians who didn't want to work but wanted to enjoy the brand-new house. Since both of them were able-bodied, Lord Song simply sent them to the army to do manual labor.

This matter was reported to the higher-ups. Although Zhang Chengdao was somewhat opposed to this approach, he couldn't think of a better solution at the moment, so he could only acquiesce.

However, most people, as long as they have stable property and hope for life, are actually willing to live well. Those who are too lazy or have no self-care ability have mostly been eliminated by the cruel society of ancient times. Therefore, among the hundreds of households in the resettlement lane, there are only two who are difficult to manage.

Chang Ping'an was completely unaware of these government orders.

He had been kept busy like a spinning top by Zhang Chengdao, so he had no time to pay attention to these things.

As for local government decrees concerning resettlement alleys, most people wouldn't pay attention to them unless they were the actual beneficiaries, so the disciples of the White Stone Immortal Sect naturally had no way of knowing about them.

Chang Ping'an was not allowed to participate in the court assemblies.

Although he was Zhang Chengdao's personal disciple, he was only a commoner. If he could easily participate in politics as a disciple of the White Stone Immortal Sect, it would sow the seeds of future problems for Zhang Chengdao's gradual, top-down reforms of the Immortal Court's politics.

Back then, whether it was Heshilie Tudi or Ling Shuang, Zhang Chengdao had specifically given them temporary official positions to grant them the right to participate in politics. Now, Zhang Chengdao could certainly give Chang Ping'an any position he wanted, such as Zhongshu Sheren or Hanlin Daizhao, but there was no need for that.

So when Zhang Chengdao held the court assembly, Chang Ping'an waited listlessly in the government office.

He waited from morning until noon, and the minor officials in the government office even kindly shared half of their own lunch with Chang Ping'an before the court meeting was over.

In the afternoon, after having lunch, Chang Ping'an was dozing off in the sunlight streaming through the window when he finally received the message that he was to go to Daxing Palace.

Inside the Daxing Hall, most of the court officials had already left, leaving only about a dozen.

Contrary to Chang Ping'an's imagined solemn and dignified scene, apart from his master sitting immovably in the main seat, the dozen or so ministers sat in small groups, whispering amongst themselves, and the atmosphere was anything but tense. During this time, even Zhao Shizhong, who always pretended to be asleep, had gradually been influenced by the efficient Celestial Court and stopped pretending to be asleep. He even started actively running errands, sometimes even taking the initiative to fill in gaps for Zhang Chengdao, finally being "influenced."

In fact, neither Zhao Shizhong nor other court officials who gradually began to get into work mode were "influenced" by Zhang Chengdao. Rather, they were gradually brought to their feet by the efficient working environment.

Just like in middle school, once you get into the top class of a key school, you're forced to not study at all, but you still end up learning a little bit. Zhang Chengdao, who was incredibly lazy back then, was forced into getting into a good university in this way.

Therefore, many minor officials and clerks, motivated by Zhang Chengdao's high welfare and benefits, and with the carrot of promotion and wealth hanging over their heads, worked extra hard and diligently. Gradually, this also influenced those complacent courtiers to pay a little more attention.

This is actually the best outcome, at least it means that there won't be a major overhaul when it comes to personnel changes in the future. Zhang Chengdao is happy to see this happen and is willing to give these power players a chance.

"Ping An, you can just sit there and listen in."

Zhang Chengdao casually pointed to an empty table behind him, then turned back to discuss matters related to criminal law with the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review and the Minister of Justice.

Strictly speaking, only the Ministry of Justice is responsible for revising laws, but in practice, it is usually the Prime Minister who is in charge, and sometimes the Secretariat and the Chancellery also participate.

However, Zhang Chengdao felt that such highly specialized matters should be handled by professionals. Moreover, revising the law should not be left to just one institution, which is why he included the Dali Temple in the process.

In another time period during the Ming and Qing dynasties, the system would have evolved to involve the joint participation of the three judicial departments (Ministry of Justice, Censorate, and Court of Judicial Review). However, Zhang Chengdao, an ordinary modern man, was unfamiliar with these matters and could only try to analyze and make arrangements based on the limited information he had gained during the information explosion era.

Before Chang Ping'an arrived, Zhang Chengdao had already explained the contents of the "Patent Law" to everyone. However, the Minister of Justice immediately grasped the key point and said with his hands clasped, "I have a general understanding of this 'Patent Law,' but if that's the case, wouldn't it require adding a lot of manpower to assist merchants in registering 'patents'?"

Zhang Chengdao sighed and nodded, saying, "Yes, a new department needs to be established to manage these matters. I'll trouble the Grand Secretary and Vice Minister Zhao to carefully consider this..."

Trying to push back the social progress and political system of this era by more than a thousand years is indeed too difficult. Even if the hard conditions such as food production and transportation can obviously be solved slowly, it is still too difficult. Zhang Chengdao already felt somewhat tired—mentally tired.

As Zhang Chengdao spoke, he paused for a moment before finally adding, "In addition, this matter has raised a new issue. Let's all think about how the tax system should be reformed."

"Absolutely not!"

"Agricultural tax is the foundation of the nation and the law of our ancestors. How can it be changed so easily?"

This time, almost all the court officials opposed it.

Zhang Chengdao had long hinted at his desire to abolish agricultural taxes, and in the Guanzhong region he had recently conquered, he almost abandoned agricultural tax revenue, leaving only a small portion as working capital for local finances. Instead, he did not require the tax to be turned over to the national treasury. Both the Grand Secretary and Zhao Shizhong had explicitly opposed this, and apart from Wang Yanqing, the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy who had no say in this matter, almost all the court officials opposed it.

The reason is simple: if agricultural taxes are gone, where will the national treasury get the money? And where will officials' salaries be paid?

This is something that concerns their very lives!

People in this era only had a concept of taxation that included agricultural tax and poll tax (oral tax and tax on calculations), and they had no idea about value-added tax, consumption tax, and so on.

Value-added tax (VAT), as one of the mainstream taxes in most modern countries, has obvious advantages. Zhang Chengdao definitely wanted to copy his homework, but the key problem is that he didn't understand it either!

The only thing he knew about was income tax, whether it was personal income tax or corporate income tax. He had some knowledge of it, since he had been exposed to it when he was a beast of burden. But as for value-added tax and consumption tax, he knew at most that they existed and that they had a basic understanding of their principles. However, he had no idea how they actually operated or how they were implemented in society.

But he is now the sect leader of the White Stone Immortal Sect, so he can't be ignorant of this.

So Zhang Chengdao waited until all the court officials had finished their excited rebuttals before slowly saying, "Of course I know that agriculture and sericulture are the foundation of the country, and it is precisely because agriculture and sericulture are the foundation of the country that they should be given the greatest support. The purpose of abolishing agricultural taxes is precisely this."

"As for the national treasury you mentioned, I only said that agricultural taxes were abolished, not that other taxes would not be collected."

Zhao Shizhong couldn't help but press further: "Does the sect leader mean to increase the oral tax and the tax on taxes?"

His brows were deeply furrowed, his face full of disapproval, and his eyes even held a strange sense of impending doom, as if he would jump up and refute Zhang Chengdao if he dared to nod in agreement.

"No, abolishing the poll tax is the best way to encourage childbirth."

Zhang Chengdao shook his head, looking at the increasingly deep frowns on everyone's faces, and finally added: "Replacing direct taxes with indirect taxes, as you all know, is how the salt tax works. Of course, what I mean is not that the government should sell salt at high prices. In fact, I also plan to gradually abolish the high indirect salt tax..."

"What should really be promoted are turnover tax, income tax, property tax, stamp tax, etc. The so-called turnover tax is a tax levied on the turnover of merchants in the process of manufacturing, selling and other circulation. This is an indirect tax on the people, which is different from the previous commercial tax."

"Income tax is a tax levied on the total income earned by an individual or group within a certain period..."

"As for property tax, it's much simpler. It's a tax levied on property. Xiao State used to levy too heavy a tax on this, which caused a lot of civil unrest."

"Stamp duty is a tax levied on contracts signed between merchants or between two parties in a transaction, which gives the contracts official legal force..."

"However, these are all minor benefits. The real main tax revenue comes from turnover tax and income tax."

(End of this chapter)